Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci
Two operas in one evening! Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci plunge us into the tragic passions burning within every human heart, whether that of a Sicilian peasant or a traveling clown—with jealousy as the ultimate weapon at the tip of the knife.
Composed within just two years of each other (1890–1892), the hard-hitting works of Mascagni and Leoncavallo symbolize the verismo movement, which breathed new life into Italian opera. Vero means “truth”: the everyday, the real — far from gilded palaces and the powerful elite. At last, opera took the people seriously — their souls, their hearts, their shattered dreams. An actress herself, stage director Silvia Paoli delivers an immediacy and authenticity that make the truth of the stage vibrantly present. Just as Turiddu and Nedda were contemporaries of their first audiences, her characters speak to us today with the same realism — of neighbourhoods in decline, of lives lived on the edge. Associate conductor of the Dijon Opera, Debora Waldman ignites the orchestral and choral forces of Dijon, joined by the Choir of the Montpellier National Opera Orchestra.
Coproduction: Toulon Opera (executive producer), Dijon Opera, Montpellier National Opera Orchestra
Librettos: Guido Menasci & Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (Cavalleria rusticana) / Ruggero Leoncavallo (Pagliacci)
Musical Director: Débora Waldman
Stage Director: Silvia Paoli
Assistant Director: Tecla Gucci
Orchestra: Dijon Bourgogne
Choir: Dijon Opera / Montpellier National Opera Orchestra
Children’s Choir: Maîtrise de Dijon
Set Design: Emanuele Sinisi
Costumes: Agnese Rabatti
Lighting: Fiammetta Baldiserri
Choreography: Emanuele Rosa
Cavalleria rusticana
Santuzza: Anaïk Morel
Turiddu: Tadeusz Szlenkier
Lucia: Svetlana Lifar
Alfio: Aleksei Isaev
Lola: Valentine Lemercier
La Madonna (Actress): Giusi Merli
Pagliacci
Nedda: Galina Cheplakova
Canio: Tadeusz Szlenkier
Tonio: Aleksei Isaev
Beppe: Grégoire Mour
Silvio: Ramiro Maturana
Dancers: Laura Bourguet, Richard Deshogues, Hemma Fiant, Régis Kiefer, Armando Rossi, Étienne Sarti
